By Stephen G. Adubato, First Things.
Pope Leo XIV recently stated that “We tend to think that when the church is talking about morality, that the only issue of morality is sexual. And in reality, I believe there are much greater, more important issues, such as justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, that would all take priority before that particular issue.” As much as I agree that issues of sexual morality are not the most important, I fear that creating a dichotomy between sexual morality and “more important issues” like social justice reflects the influence American cultural politics has had on Leo’s outlook—perhaps to a fault.
This past March, Greece’s Council of State ruled to uphold the right of same-sex couples to adopt children. The ruling comes only two years after Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to legally recognize same-sex marriage. The strongest opposition to the ruling came from Greek Orthodox clergy—and, shockingly, from the Greek Communist Party (KKE). The party argued that granting same-sex couples the right to marry and adopt undermines the “complementary function of man and woman in the process of procreation” and risks “commercializing” children, thereby denying their “social rights.” Such an argument sounds foreign to Western—especially American—ears. Typically, the political right opposes gay rights and other issues that go against traditional sexual ethics, whereas the left is supportive. It was the Democratic Party that overwhelmingly backed the legalization of same-sex marriage eleven years ago, while only a minority of Republicans were in support of it.
I’m no communist. But I can’t deny that I find KKE’s logic compelling. Sexual liberation dovetails with a consumerist mindset that plays an essential role in sustaining our present neoliberal economic system. We can learn from the KKE that traditional sexual ethics and social justice are two sides of the same coin rather than separate issues.